Methods

Results-orientation, impact assessment, and value for money have been creating a growing buzz in the fields of international cooperation and peacebuilding for the last few years. But what are the consequences of an increased focus on results for practice? ...

IPDET was designed to meet the needs of evaluation and audit units of many different types of organizations involved in development work. This comprehensive international program is designed to help a range of development specialists conduct significant evaluations of development interventions at the project, program, and policy levels....

This Working Paper series is based upon findings regarding program review and evaluation processes from across CDA Collaborative Learning Projects (CDA) programs, all of which are concerned with issues of impact, results, assessment and learning, as well as mechanisms for obtaining feedback and being accountable for program effects....

The Charter of the United Nations identifies mediation as an important means for the peaceful settlement of disputes and conflicts, and it has proven to be an effective instrument to address both inter-State and intra-State conflicts. The United Nations Handbook on the Peaceful Settlement of Disputes between States (1992) further developed understanding of mediation of disputes between States and remains a useful resource.  The report of the Secretary-General on Enhancing mediation and its support activities (S/2009/189) examined the mediation challenges faced by the United Nations and its partners and outlined some considerations for strengthening mediation processes....

In efforts to measure empowerment, do indicators mean what they are supposed to mean? Are the values they reflect appropriate? This paper examines the measurement of three dimensions of empowerment: resources (the conditions under which choices are made); agency (the process by which choices are made); and achievements (the outcomes of choices)....

This manual complements ISSAT’s Introductory Level 1 Security Sector Reform Training Course. It aims to provide a basic overview of Security Sector Reform (SSR) policy and practice based on collective experience in supporting security  and justice reform efforts.  This manual provides an overview of the theoretical background and key practical insights needed to engage in SSR programming, setting out the main principles but also highlighting various challenges that could arise when engaging in SSR....

This thesis aims to provide a coherent theoretical framework to guide the development of monitoring and evaluation (M&E) information systems within international aid agencies. The thesis applies soft systems methodologies (SSM) to explore the research question and to develop conceptual models. ...

This thesis aims to provide a coherent theoretical framework to guide the development of monitoring and evaluation (M&E) information systems within international aid agencies. The thesis applies soft systems methodologies (SSM) to explore the research question and to develop conceptual models. ...

This report covers a study commissioned by DFID entitled ‘Broadening the Range of Designs and Methods for Impact Evaluations’. Impact Evaluation (IE) aims to demonstrate that development programmes lead todevelopment results, that the intervention as cause has an effect....

When we talk about the current state of DM&E in the peacebuilding field, we often lament the fact that we do not have an established evidence base of what works, and that our methodological approaches are still not that sophisticated compared with other disciplines such as education and health....

This is the second paper devised by the Peace Building Learning Group (Learning Group 2) of UNA and follows on directly from paper one which presented an overview of the key issues and challenges facing early childhood organisations when developing programmes in conflict affected regions....

This paper shares the first results of an ongoing collaborative action research in which ten development organisations explored different Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (PME) approaches with the aim of dealing more effectively with complex processes of social change....

A product of the Alliance for Peacebuilding (AfP) and the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), the day-long Evidence Summit, which was held in December 2011 at the United States Institute of Peace in Washington, DC, and this report were made possible in part thanks to support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and USIP....

This guide is aimed at staff working in all such organisations. There are 30 tools and techniques contained here, divided into five categories: i) Strategy Development; ii) Management Techniques; iii) Collaboration Mechanisms; iv) Knowledge Sharing and Learning Processes; and v) Knowledge Capture and Storage. ...

Techniques for rigorous quantitative impact evaluation are increasingly being brought to bear on development interventions – including, as the articles in this collection show, by official development agencies. The Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) of the World Bank has been a committed advocate of this move to greater rigour, but with its own mantra of ‘Rigorous and Relevant’, which is spelled out more fully as carrying out wellcontextualised, policy-relevant studies which adopt best practice quantitative approaches.   ...

What is a baseline? Why you should care The phases of conducting a baseline The errors to avoid in each phase How to manage the common errors Elements of a baseline survey (TOR) ...

The handbook is the result of a two-year consultative process — it has been designed by and forinternational actors working to address insecurity and to support access to justice. This process hasbrought the development community together with their security and diplomatic colleagues to ensurethat the handbook incorporates knowledge on the political, governance and technical nature of SSR.It is based on experience gathered, from countries that have undertaken security and justice reformsand the international community, on conflict prevention and peacebuilding over the past decadethroughout the developing world. ...

USAID has a long history of establishing performance monitoring systems in a wide range of post-conflict situations around the world. In light of two major post-conflict programs (Afghanistan and Iraq), USAID commissioned Management Systems International (MSI) to undertake a desk review of the state of the art for monitoring and evaluation (M&E) in post-conflict societies. After a systematic review of existing literature and interviews with policymakers and practitioners, MSI prepared this report, which has three components....

This document provides guidance for conceptualizing, writing, selecting and measuring project performance indicators. Offers practical assistance within the larger context of articulating theories of change, conceptualizing and writing objective and results statements, and creating logical and results frameworks. ...

Outlines how to do evaluations under budget, time, and data constraints, as well as political influences. This extensive summary of the book illustrates tradeoffs and presents practical options for addressing such issues at the design and implementation stages of a typical evaluation. ...